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Middle East: Israeli army storms WHO warehouses in Gaza – DW – 07/22/2025

Middle East: Israeli army storms WHO warehouses in Gaza – DW – 07/22/2025

DW4 days ago
The Israeli army has stormed warehouses and other facilities belonging to the the World Health Organization, compromising its operations in Gaza, according to its director-general. DW has more.On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot strongly condemned Israel's expanding military operations in Gaza.
"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is disgraceful. It is a scandal that must be ended immediately," Barrot told France Inter radio.
There is "no longer any justification for the Israeli army's military operations in Gaza. It is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and lead to further forced displacement, which we condemn in the strongest terms," he said.
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Barot also urged for foreign media to be allowed into Gaza.
"I demand that the free and independent press be given access to Gaza to show what is happening there and to report on it."
Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza since the war began in 2023.
The Israeli forces stormed several WHO facilities during its latest advance in the Gaza Strip, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday.
The facilities were attacked three times, according to Ghebreyesus.
He said, "Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict.
"Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention."
The WHO is calling for the staff member's release.
Tedros said that the main WHO warehouse, located in Deir al-Balah, was also damaged.
"As the lead agency for health, compromising WHO's operations is crippling the entire health response in Gaza," Tedros said. "A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue."
WHO stated it will remain in Deir al-Balah and continue its operations despite the attacks.
Israel's army did not initially comment on the incidents.Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that a WHO staff residence in Deir-al-Balah "was attacked three times."
This comes after Israel launched a ground offensive on Monday in the city in central Gaza.
On Tuesday, the French foreign minister called on Israel to allow foreign press into the enclave.
Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.
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UN Slams Gaza Airdrop Aid as 'Inefficient and a Distraction' Amid Starvation Crisis
UN Slams Gaza Airdrop Aid as 'Inefficient and a Distraction' Amid Starvation Crisis

Int'l Business Times

timean hour ago

  • Int'l Business Times

UN Slams Gaza Airdrop Aid as 'Inefficient and a Distraction' Amid Starvation Crisis

The UNRWA commissioner condemned Israel and Western leaders for opting to airdrop aid into Gaza rather than pressuring Israel to allow the 6,000 truckloads of aid currently stalled in Jordan and Egypt to enter as dozens of Palestinians, mostly children, die from starvation-related causes. The commissioner of a United Nations agency criticized Western leaders' initiative to airdrop aid into the besieged Gaza enclave as "inefficient and a distraction," as the Israeli-driven starvation crisis deepens, claiming the lives of at least 122 Palestinians, 83 of whom were babies and children. On Friday, Israel announced it would soon permit Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to coordinate with the UK, France, and Germany to conduct humanitarian airdrops over Gaza, The Times of Israel reported. The news came as more than 2.2 million Palestinians remain trapped in the besieged enclave, facing a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. "#Gaza: airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation," Philippe Lazzarini, the Swiss Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), wrote in an X post shared Saturday. "They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction & screensmoke [sic]." Since March 2, Israel has blocked nearly all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, creating conditions that aid agencies warn amount to deliberate starvation, a practice considered a war crime under international law. The ongoing siege has made food, clean water, and medical supplies nearly inaccessible. In an attempt to ease the crisis, Israel and the United States opened four Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution sites at the end of May. However, these efforts have been marred by violence as more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and American mercenaries while trying to retrieve the aid. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The court alleges both are "responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare" beginning Oct. 8, 2023. "A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will," Lazzarini continued. "Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements + dignified access to people in need. Allow the U.N. including @UNRWA & our partners to operate at scale & without bureaucratic or political hurdles." Lazzarini added that UNRWA has 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt "waiting for the green light to get into Gaza." "Driving aid through is much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper & safer. It's more dignified for the people of #Gaza," he added. #Gaza: airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving is a distraction & screensmoke.A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 26, 2025 In a follow-up post, Lazzarini described the dire conditions Palestinians in Gaza are enduring, quoting a colleague who said, "'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.'" He added that UNRWA found that 1 in every 5 children in Gaza City is malnourished, a figure that increases daily. "When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food & care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold. Most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak & at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need," he wrote, adding that frontline health workers, currently surviving on one small meal a day, are also fainting from hunger. "When caretakers cannot find enough to eat, the entire humanitarian system is collapsing. Parents are too hungry to care for their children," the UNWRA commissioner wrote. "Those who reach UNRWA clinics don't have the energy, food, or means to follow medical advice." "Families are no longer coping, they are breaking down, unable to survive. Their existence is threatened," he added, before stressing that UNRWA must be permitted to distribute food and medical supplies from the 6,000 aid trucks currently stalled in Jordan and Egypt. 'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses': a colleague in #Gaza told me this morning. Meanwhile, according to @UNRWA latest findings: one in every five children is malnourished in Gaza City as cases increase every day. When child malnutrition… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 24, 2025 Since October 2023, nearly 60,000 Palestinians have died, either directly from Israeli military actions or indirectly as a result of Israeli policies. During the same period, around 1,600 Israelis have been killed, with 1,200 of those deaths occurring on Oct. 7, 2023. Originally published on Latin Times © Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Middle East updates: UK, Jordan working on Gaza airdrop plan – DW – 07/26/2025
Middle East updates: UK, Jordan working on Gaza airdrop plan – DW – 07/26/2025

DW

time2 hours ago

  • DW

Middle East updates: UK, Jordan working on Gaza airdrop plan – DW – 07/26/2025

The United Kingdom and Jordan are coordinating on a plan to airdrop aid into Gaza, according to British PM Keir Starmer. Meanwhile, dozens more Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli fire. DW has United Kingdom is working with Middle Eastern allies including Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip and evacuate children in need of medical care, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said on Saturday. "The prime minister set out how the UK will be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," read a statement after Starmer held a three-way phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. During the conversation, the three leaders agreed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "appalling" and that it would be "vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to the Downing Street readout. "They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan ... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region," it continued. "They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it." In Berlin, Chancellor Merz's office spoke of "large agreement" on the call – despite Germany so far refusing to criticize Israel to the extent that the UK and France have done, with the latter even set to officially recognize Palestinian statehood later this year. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "We will be coordinating very closely in the coming days to take the next steps," said Merz. The phone call came a day after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience." For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. An official in Amman said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. But the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are "expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians" and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion. "A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will," he said, demanding: "Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Some 40 people died while trying to access humanitarian aid, including 16 who were shot by Israeli forces, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to local Palestinian authorities and medics. Doctors at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that 16 people were killed and another 300 injured near the northern Zikim border crossing waiting for trucks carrying aid. One witness told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops opened fire "while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point." The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired "warning shots to distance the crowd" after identifying an unspecified "immediate threat." Elsewhere, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency said nine people were killed in three separate Israeli air strikes in Gaza City, eleven in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Yunis and two in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp. The Palestinian militant group Hamas expressed surprise on Saturday at suggestions from US President Donald Trump that the group "didn't really want" a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza. Trump made the allegation on Friday after Israel and the United States walked out of indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar that had lasted nearly three weeks. "Trump's remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files," said a spokesman for the Islamist group which launched the deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the current conflict. "So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations", he added. Though not part of the Hamas negotiating team, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq insisted the group had shown "flexibility" in the talks, but Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of not "acting in good faith." Hello and welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Saturday, July 26. In a three-way conversation with his French and German counterparts, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom was working with regional partners such as Jordan on a plan to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, medics and Hamas officials said that dozens more Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire, some while waiting for humanitarian aid.

Taiwan: Voters reject bid to recall opposition lawmakers – DW – 07/26/2025
Taiwan: Voters reject bid to recall opposition lawmakers – DW – 07/26/2025

DW

time3 hours ago

  • DW

Taiwan: Voters reject bid to recall opposition lawmakers – DW – 07/26/2025

Taiwanese voters have rejected an attempt to oust around one-fifth of the parliament, all of whom are from the major opposition party. It was the island's largest-ever recall election. Voters in Taiwan on Saturday rejected an attempt to recall 24 opposition lawmakers, dealing a blow to President Lai Ching-te and his ruling party's chances of regaining a parliamentary majority. The results showed that the vote did not succeed in unseating any of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers, who are accused of being too close to China. "All Taiwanese people chose stability, chose that the government should focus on getting things done, rather than engaging in bitter political fighting," KMT chairman Eric Chu told reporters. "No one can lose an election and then engage in a vicious recall," he said, calling on Lai to "sincerely apologize" and "stop thinking about political infighting". The high-stakes referendum could have given Lai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) control of the parliament, as it had lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 elections, despite Lai's victory in the presidential race. This is the first mass recall in Taiwan's history, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing a second recall election in August. KMT, which has a total of 52 parliamentary seats, advocates for closer economic ties with China. Its critics accuse the KMT lawmakers of being pro-Communist and beholden to China. The KMT, which controls parliament with the help of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), has slammed the unprecedented recall effort as a power grab. Following the results, DPP's Secretary-General Lin Yu-chang said the party "humbly" accepts the results, adding that the DPP would "reflect more prudently on the society's response." The KMT, together with the TPP, has obstructed Lai's agenda wherever possible. This includes slashing Taiwan's defense budget and freezing other defense funds at a time when the threat from China is growing. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video They have also pushed controversial reforms to expand parliament's powers. These led to brawls in the legislature and massive street protests — and spurred civic groups to launch the recall campaign. Under Taiwan's election laws, signatures from 10% of a district's registered voters are required to hold a recall vote. For a KMT lawmaker to lose their seat, the number of votes in favor of recalling them must exceed those against and turnout must exceed 25% of registered voters. The DPP needs recalls of at least 12 KMT lawmakers to gain temporary control of the parliament. China has loomed large over the recall vote. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council warned earlier in the week of "visible evidence" China was trying to interfere in the election process. China claims that Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. Polls closed at 4 p.m. Taiwan time (0800 UTC/GMT). Taiwan's Central Election Commission is expected to announce the official results on August 1.

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